Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950) was raised in Italy, England, and Switzerland by his Italian father and English mother, opera singers both. He moved to England in his teens and began writing fiction. He became a British citizen to avoid subscription into the Italian army during W.W.I. He later joined the British Secret Service as a translator.

Sabatini wrote for many years before obtaining success with the novel Scaramouche (1921), a romantic historical tale of fugitive aristocrat Andre Moreau set during the French Revolution. The novel is swashbuckling good fun. Captin Blood (1922) was his other great success. Sabatini published another 29 novels most of which are now out-of-print. Most of his short stories remain uncollected.

Sabatini's headstone is inscribed with the first words from Scaramouche:

"He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.

This book:
The life of an heiress is in jeopardy and her only hope is to place her trust in the wiles of a middle-aged swordsman with no use for "women's troubles." As the plots of the conspirators converge it will take all the wiles and accumulated wisdom of Martin Marie Rigobert de Garnache uncover their identity, to save Valerie de La Vauvraye and keep his promise to his Queen.

published by The Riverside Press Cambridge, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1909